2010 in Pictures and Words

If you got a Christmas Card from us, it looked like this.  If not, well, here you go.

So here we go, 2010, in summary

January.

It snowed.  A lot (for Mebane).  Eight inches in one storm was the most snow we'd seen since 2002, and we tried to make the most of it, despite not really having much on the way of snow toys.

February

Zoe turned 10 (not pictured)

March

Dave spent two weeks in England for work (also not pictured)

April

We spent Easter weekend down at the beach on Oak Island.  It should've been a little too cold for the kids to swim, but it wasn't.

May 

Zoe runs in two different 5K races.  Dave's 16-year old pickup dies (temporarily)  Jennifer buys a (relatively) new Honda Pilot.  Tristan mini-tours coastal North Carolina.  Pig Pickin' 5!

Jun

The first Big Saia Family Vacation at Surf City.  Tristan tours the south and midwest

July

The Big Roth Family Vacation to Alaska and Canada

August

Back to School; 6th grade for Tristan, 5th grade for Zoe

September

Dave goes back to England for another week

October

Tristan turns 12. State Fair Time!

November

??

December

Tristan sings with the Triangle Youth Ballet's production of "The Nutcracker", and has a solo with the NCBC at the Duke Christmas concert.  

Zoe runs in the Reindeer Romp, coming in 2nd for girls 10 & under, and 3rd for boys and girls 10 and under.  She also performs with the award-winning Glenwood Show Choir

Jennifer got to be the Maid of Honor for her best friend Tiffany's wedding.

And then the year took an unpleasant turn that I'm not going to get into here.

So here's to 2011!

Happy New Year from The Traveling Roths.

Christmas Card 2009

Now that it's 2010, it's time to write our annual Microsoft Word Christmas Letter™ for 2009. Yeah, it's late, but since we got the cards in the mail on Christmas Eve, it's not that late, and now you have something to do for the next several minutes.

So here's our summary: The Traveling Roths 2009 Year in Pictures.

January:

What better way to beat the mind-winter doldrums than to head to sunny Florida and the kingdom of the mouse. We met up with Jennifer's brother Jonas and his newly acquired fiancee Nellie Gilmore for a long weekend at Walt Disney World, and various Hyatt properties in the Orlando area. Tristan was still sporting a very broken arm from his mishap of December 2008, but that didn't slow us down at all. We even got to meet up with Andy, Shelley, Alex, and Ella who were in Florida at the same time. How fortuitous!

In February, Zoe turned 9, and Tristan got his cast off and his pins out. You don't want to see that.

In March/April, we spent a few days at The Troxlers' house on Harkers Island.

and it was soccer season for Tristan, once again

Zoe ran two more 5K races, one of them in Mebane

In May, Dave went to yet another OJR reunion, and scored a free pizza!

We had our 4th Annual Pig Pickin' which looked remarkably similar to the three previous pig pickin's.

Tristan performed what would be his final concert with the Training Choir of the North Carolina Boys Choir

for two days after the concert, he received his promotion to the Concert Choir

Over the crazy summer, we hit the beach several times

Washington DC with Andy, Shelley, Alex, and Ella

and the cabin in the Poconos with Tom, Jenni, Kayley, and Krista (and Andy, Alex, Ella, and Opa, and without Tristan, who was at choir camp in NC)

We went white water rafting in Tennessee with Mebane Presbyterian Church

School started: fifth grade for Tristan, and fourth for Zoe.

In October we drove to Mount Pleasant, Michigan to see Jonas and Nellie get married. Jennifer, Tristan, and Zoe were all in the wedding, and I got to play photographer.

In October Tristan turned 11, and we went to the North Carolina State Fair (for the 9th consecutive year.)

In December, Zoe ran yet another 5K, and finished approximately third out of several hundred Girls on the Run.

and Tristan performed several Christmas concerts with the NCBC.

So that's the year in photos, up to the point the card was made in mid-December. You can find these and more at:

http://www.zooomr.com/photos/travelingroths/

and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/travelingroths/

So Happy Hannukah, Happy Festivus, Merry Christmas, Happy Dave's 40th Birthday, and Happy New Year from the Traveling Roths: Dave, Jennifer, Tristan, and Zoe

Mebane, North Carolina

USA

New York Christmas, Part 3

Day 3.

We had to revist our favorite bagel place, so we walked down to Flatbush and Bergen to Bergen Bagels (see July 2006). We got a few to eat immediately, and a dozen bagels and bialys to go. They screwed up my coffee, putting sugar and cold milk in it (yuck), so I gave it to the kids, who downed it handily.

Zoe's Routine Hosted on Zooomr

We walked back toward Prospect Park, where they have a farmers market on Saturday mornings. We found Jared and Jordan, sampled some food and wine, and picked up some fixin's for dinner.

The four Roths headed back to the subway, and rode to the Grand Central terminal, and then set out on foot, mainly as a photographic safari of the urban jungle for me.

Reflected Skyscraper Hosted on Zooomr

We stopped at Bryant Park to check out the free ice skating (with $10 skate rental). The lines were crazy long, so we skipped it, opting instead for some lunch at some place with a bathroom.

We went back to the Radio City area for some more pictures. I have an unexplainable fascination with old-school C7 Christmas lights, and some of the public art in that area were giant C7 lights, so I needed pictures.

Giant Tree Lights Two Hosted on Zooomr

Here's one with us in it, just for a sense of scale.

C7 Family Hosted on Zooomr

I got a few more of the giant Christmas ball pyramid, but with Radio City in the background, for a sense of position.

Radio City Music Balls Hosted on Zooomr

We headed south, meeting up with Joe and Pam near Lord & Taylor. They too had a Christmas window display so we checked that out. We left the kids with them, then I boogied south (with Jennifer in tow) to try to get a picture of the Empire State Building from the south side as the sun was setting.

Empire State Fading Light Hosted on Zooomr

It's not exactly the shot I wanted, but I'm not totally displeased with it.

Jennifer and I went on unsuccessful quests for eye drops and wine. On the way back to Lord and Taylor to meet the kids, we turned around and noticed this:

Empire State Sunset Hosted on Zooomr

Bear in mind this was only 4:48 in the afternoon! I just can't get used to the early sunset in the winter in the north. Maybe that's part of the reason I left. But I digress.

We met back up with the others, and while they were browsing a junk store, I took a bunch more pictures. Here's the Lord & Taylor

Lord & Taylor Christmas Windows Hosted on Zooomr

The blurry moving cars are intentional.

Taking advantage of Night Portrait mode (where the flash is coupled with a longer exposure ((to capture more of the more dimly lit background))) I got a picture of each of the kids with the Empire State Building behind them.

Empire State Building ZR Hosted on Zooomr

Empire State Building TR Hosted on Zooomr

If you look carefully, you can see the crescent moon to the left of the building.

From there we took the train back to Brooklyn, kind of adopting a foreign gentleman (who I guessed was Russian) who didn't speak English, and needed a little help with the train schedule.

At Jordan's apartment, the meal was. . . PORK! Jordan makes a mean pork butt roast, and with some kale on the side and the food and wine we bought at the farmers market, it was a great dinner for us, Jordan, Jared, Julia, and Julia's friend Leslie. Joe and Pam opted to stay in Manhattan, so they missed out on a great meal.

Zoe fell asleep amidst all the chaos, and that was pretty indicative of how tired we all were from a long day.

New York Christmas, Part 2

Day 2

Woke up, went out and found the truck, and had to move it since where I had parked was not available from 9:30 - 11:00. So Zoe and I drove around looking for a spot for the better part of an hour, finally finding a place on Prospect Ave, about four streets over. The truck should allegedly be fine there 'til at least Tuesday, so hopefully it'll be there when we come back to it on Christmas Eve.

Went to breakfast at Tom's Diner, a local landmark.

From there we along with John O. (Jennifer's dad's wife's son) walked to the 7th Ave subway station, and took the B train all the way to Rockefeller Center. The subway, Zoe informed us, is her second favorite means of transportation, the first being airplanes.

We got to Radio City just in time to meet Joe (Jennifer's dad) and Pam and head inside.

Jennifer and her family used to do the Christmas Spectacular every year, but it was the first time for the kids and me. The place was spectacular. Just look at the lobby.

Hall Foyer Hosted on Zooomr

We had pretty choice seats way down front just to the right of the right aisle. The theatre was spectacular.

PreShow Color Hosted on Zooomr

Joe hooked T and Z up with cotton candy that came with a free hat.

Showtime Hosted on Zooomr

The show was amazing. The kids also got some special attention that no one else in the theatre got. Right after the 3D part (where an animated Santa flies through NYC, finally landing right outside Radio City) when live-action Santa entered the theatre, he ran down right to where we were, and gave high-fives to both Zoe and Tristan, and no one else! I wish I had a picture of that!

The show ran a full hour and a half, and had many different scenes and themes. Here's their take on The Nutcracker.

Christmas Spectacular Hosted on Zooomr

The show finished with the birth of Christ, which really surprised me. It was very nicely done. Overall, I'd highly recommend the show.

From there we headed out into Manhattan to just bounce around a while. There's this cool scene just outside Radio City

Big Balls Hosted on Zooomr

We checked out Rockefeller Plaza, the huge tree, and the ice skating. It was crazy crowded, but pretty cool just to be there. From there we checked out the fancy windows (or whatever they're properly called) at Saks Fifth Avenue, and then walked down to Times Square, to the giant Toys 'R' Us, which was also insane. Their decorations were cool though.

Times Square Window Hosted on Zooomr

From there we walked back to Grand Central Terminal, and took the 7 train to the L train to the Bedford Street station in Brooklyn. From there we walked to Peony's apartment where we met her and Jordan, and then walked to Bamonte's restaurant. A cool old-school Italian place that's probably been there forever, with waiters as old as my dad in tuxedos, and pictures of The Sopranos cast and various other Guineas all over the walls.

We were met there by Jason, a friend of Jordan's from Heritage School (in Newnan, Georgia). The kids split some gnocchi Bolognese (which they were able to finish!). Jennifer had the lasagna, and I had the cavatelli Bolognese. We finished with some espresso (with complimentary sambuca!) and ginger cookies.

We called a car service, and got a Suburban to fit the five of us for the ride back to Jordan's. Shortly after wer got there, Jared (Jennifer's brother) and Julia (his wife) arrived. We did another small Christmas, and called it a night.